wonka

so i got out shooting today, but already had this old picture ready to go, so you guys from today will just have to wait a few more days.

this was back in august, on the day of the uptown whittier car show. the one that allowed vintage and muscle cars, but no low riders. ya, you guys have to wait until may for your token show. thanks whittier.

don't know why, but this ford wasn't part of the show. he parked over by the coffee bean, i suppose to get his fix. did he get there too late? did he not register? did he just want to be noticed? well one out of three is sure.

the lack of people walking through the picture and the brilliant color of the car, made it an "ok, i'll take it" shot.

charge it

i'll throw this one in, though it's not my typical, and it's not my fav. and i won't even mention what the paint color reminds me of, you can form your own opinion.

but sometimes, i feel that maybe i'm in a rut, or just getting jaded, so i thought maybe once in a while i'll shoot something different. different is usually a landscape or flowers, but they don't really fit in here, so here's the something different for my virtual parking garage.

there were a few other chargers on the other side of the street, but i didn't like the way the light was hitting them, and a couple had the hoods up, so no go on those.

i think it was the length of the front end on this and the reflection of the trees and sky that made me pick this particular something else. i know it isn't starsky and hutch's ride, but definitely getting into that time period.

green with envy

oooohhhhh. this was one spectacular car. really incredible flame job and chromeography. yet another in the land of unwelcome customs and low riders lot at the whittier uptown show. my only question in all the attention to detail, is why they used such a jolly green giant green on the wheels, rather than something from the same range as the hood flames? kinda throws me off a bit.

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question for you: what do you consider a professional photographer? i often get asked if i'm a professional, and am always at a loss as to how to answer. i look at them, they look at me. they blink, look quizzically. "do you work for a magazine?" blink. blink.

i wonder why they bother to ask, most never look like the type that would buy a print, much less pay “professional” rates. i assume they want something for free, to use for their charity, whatever. if i state a price, i sometimes hear that mr. xyz only charges $X. well, then, go buy his/her pictures, it don't bother me none. i don't have the time or interest to peddle my wares or harass the owners.

i think the basic definition, is that if you can sell a print, you're a professional. then, ya, i guess i am, in some fashion. on the other hand, i do this more as a hobby, to do my own thing after a long day at work, without other people telling me what to do. 

i'm a professional graphic designer, since that's what i've got a diploma in and how i make my bread and butter, one who farts around with cameras after work, then tweaks the images on a computer—still in designer mode. so anyway, ya i'm a professional.

back in college i collaborated on a gallery show with a painter. i showed my black and white photography, he put up his paintings. i had cemetery images, close up detail stuff, abstract negative space, etc. the one comment left in my guest book that stuck out in my mind, was that "...the work looked like it was done by a graphic designer." i was never sure if that was meant in a good way or a bad way. i developed the stuff the same as a "photographer," so what is the difference? was it the way i cropped the images? the presentation? was it a snobby photography student? i don't remember. i didn't know anyone well at the school, and it wasn't advertised as photography done by a design major, so how would they even know?

anyway, back to my point; everyone with a camera these days can call themselves a professional photographer. but the old rule still applies: garbage in, garbage out. i think people can judge for themselves. i usually just answer to the blinkers, "no," and they go away to stuff more of their flyers into people's cars.

shady character

i was somewhat disappointed to find this lovely car parked in the shade of the main intersection of the uptown whittier car show last summer. the trees above dappled it with shadow, which mutes the detail and shine of the car. the location also guaranteed that there would be people moving through my shot.

it caught my eye, so i took it anyway. hopefully i'll see it again in a better light this year.

heap big injun

found this pontiac early at last summer's whittier uptown car show. it was overcast that morning, which kept all the stark shadows away. this was parked in the shade, so bonus.

there were a number of pontiacs at the show, and i, of course, had to get shots of all the hood ornaments. but i did also shoot a number of them full body like this. somehow the ornament on this year seems a bit big on the headdress. must be freudian or something.